QUISPAMSIS, N.B. – An online classified ad, shared more than 30,000 times, helped a Quispamsis woman retrieve some precious memories of her recently deceased brother.
Joanna Vlamakis’ brother Mario passed away on Oct. 2, 2013, at just 22 years old.
Vlamakis told Global News her little brother was her best friend.
“He was always happy, always doing the right thing and never judged anybody,” she said.
She kept the last text messages they exchanged, which turned out to be their very last conversation, on her iPhone.
But the device was stolen while she was out in Saint John over the weekend.
As if the heartache of losing Mario was not enough, her last few memories had also been taken.
Amber Hachey, one of Vlamakis’ friends, took matters into her own hands and posted an ad about the stolen iPhone on Kijiji
“I didn’t think about it, I just wrote it. I had all these things in my head that if I had the person on front of me I’d just want to say,” Hachey said.
Hachey posted a Kijiji ad about the stolen iPhone Monday afternoon, writing the phone was more than a financial loss, it held irreplaceable memories.
“After that it was just 24 hours of my phone going off with emails, phone calls and text messages,” said Hachey.
In a twist of fate, after over 30,000 views and shares in under 24 hours, a girl in Saint John came forward with the phone.
She had bought it off of Kijiji for $75, but heard about Hachey’s ad and quickly realized it was the same phone.
Now that the phone has been returned, Vlamakis is getting it looked at by her service provider to see if she can recover the memories.
“If that person knew what was on the phone I don’t think they would have touched it,” Hachey said.
“It’s nice to have the phone back and to have those memories back,” Vlamakis said “But it’s also nice to know that people will appreciate how I feel”
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